Freshwater report a 'once in a generation' opportunity

Nov 15
(BusinessDesk) - The Land and Water Forum's final report on
new ways to allocate freshwater is a "once in a generation
opportunity", its chair, Alastair Bisley, said as the report
was released to a careful welcome by government Ministers,
and applause from a wide range of water users.

While there
were some notable non-signatories to the outcomes of the
four year experiment in consensus decision-making, the forum
managed to get 95 percent of its 60-plus members from
industry, local government, iwi, environmental groups,
recreational users and farmers across the line on 67
recommendations.

Among signatories are the national
farming lobby, Federated Farmers, although their objection
to any system requiring water rents saw the forum make no
recommendation in that area.

The system it promotes would
see the government establish national guidelines and
standards for freshwater catchment management, which would
be used by regional councils as the foundation for
collaborative processes at a local level to establish
"scarcity thresholds" for freshwater resources.

When such
thresholds are reached, that would trigger a requirement for
all existing water users to be governed by resource consents
to give certainty about water rights, to allow existing
water resources to be shared fairly across users, easing the
transfer of water rights between alternative users, and
ensuring new users can "enter the water economy."

"Once a
scarcity threshold has been met, all takes in a catchment
should be formally accounted for and existing users,
including those operating under permitted activity rules or
statutory authorisations … should be 'grand-parented' into
the management framework through a process that ensures they
get only what they need," the report says. Major water
users are from this month required to start accurately
recording their consumption.

The new system would also see
regional councils identify contaminant loads in every
freshwater catchment, pinpoint their origin, and manage them
to achieve whatever standards of freshwater purity have been
agreed.

The forum report says this need not involve
"trading off or balancing values against each
other."

"There are many ways to pursue environmental,
economic and social benefits at once, including through
accessing new water through efficiency gains and new
infrastructure, adding value to our products and services,
science and innovation, and leveraging off environmental
performance in export markets.

"The change we propose sets
up the system towards outcomes which are advantageous to all
parties."

Among those not to sign up to the LAWF report
were Auckland urban water company Watercare Services, for
reasons that are unclear, and the electricity company
TrustPower, which has extensive plans to produce
hydro-electricity and irrigation schemes on the Canterbury
Plains.

Irrigators expressed displeasure about what they
say were last minute changes limiting resource consents for
water to no more than 20 years in the first instance,
possibly stretching out to 35 years.

“Certainty is the
key if irrigators are to invest in sustainability.
Irrigators need long-duration consents and an explicit right
of renewal,” said Andrew Curtis of Irrigation NZ. “Short
durations and uncertainty of renewal will produce reactive
and high- risk thinking."

"This
would improve the viability of initial and on-going capital
investment. In return for this, IrrigationNZ agrees consents
need to adapt in a timely manner to environmental limit
changes."

The report also includes a joint statement on
iwi freshwater rights and interests, agreeing these should
be settled between the Crown and iwi under Treaty of
Waitangi settlement negotiations, without compromising
existing water rights.

"Costs relating to Crown-iwi
resolutions should not be transferred on to other parties,"
the statement says.

Primary Industries and Environment
Ministers David Carter and Amy Adams welcomed the report as
providing "a solid foundation from which to progress the
government’s strategic direction for water
management."

“This work will feed into further progress
in the fresh water reform programme, from which we’ve
already seen the National Policy Statement for Freshwater
Management, the Fresh Start for Freshwater Clean-Up Fund and
the Irrigation Acceleration
Fund."

Trending Now

Quotes are real-time for NASDAQ, NYSE, and NYSEAmex when available. See also delay times for other exchanges. Quotes and other information supplied by independent providers identified on the Yahoo! Finance partner page. Quotes are updated automatically, but will be turned off after 25 minutes of inactivity. Quotes are delayed at least 15 minutes. All information provided "as is" for informational purposes only, not intended for trading purposes or advice. Neither Yahoo! nor any of independent providers is liable for any informational errors, incompleteness, or delays, or for any actions taken in reliance on information contained herein. By accessing the Yahoo! site, you agree not to redistribute the information found therein.